Enormous Sinkhole Opens up in the Middle of Playa del Carmen-Cancun Highway

A sinkhole appeared suddenly in the middle of the Playa del Carmen-Cancun highway on Wednesday August 26th, around 4 in the morning, causing the total collapse of the road in both directions, however, it seems not to be a common sinking, but literally the “birth” of a ‘cenote’.

This was announced by Martin Estrada, head of the municipal police of Solidaridad, Quintana Roo. He reported that so far there’s only one person (not seriously) injured and one damaged vehicle.

Authorities closed down the Federal Road towards Puerto Morelos, near the Iberostar Hotel. In fact, the initial report of this “trench” was done by staff of the hotel.

The cavity is approximately 10 meters wide and one meter deep, it is estimated that 3.5 tons of asphalt were displaced, however, inhabitants of the area speculate that this could be the “birth” of a cenote, or a cavern that harbor to an underground river, that was probably covered up when the road was built.

The recommendation for all motorists is to use the alternate route Nuevo Xcan – Playa del Carmen.

On Wednesday August 25th, local authorities made a call on all drivers heading to Cancun International Airport from Playa del Carmen and workers going from Cancun to Playa, to slow down and be cautious while driving by the area of the incident.

7 Reactions on this Article

We passed by there several hours earlier coming from Xcaret and we were informed was not coming toward our hotel the next morning. All tours were cancelled. I was just grateful to be alive with my whole family. I was not aware that someone was injured or witnessed this event.